Methods and apparatuses for electroplating and seed layer detection

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein are methods for electroplating which employ seed layer detection. Such methods may operate by selecting a wafer, illuminating one or more points within an interior region of the wafer surface, measuring a first set of one or more in-process color signals from the one or more points within the interior region, illuminating one or more points within an edge region of the wafer surface, measuring a second set of one or more in-process color signals from the one or more points within the edge region, each color signal having one or more color components, calculating a metric indicative of a difference between the color signals in the first and second sets of in-process color signals, determining whether an acceptable seed layer is present on the wafer based on whether the metric is within a predetermined range, and repeating the foregoing for one or more additional wafers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/782,690, filed on Oct. 12, 2017, and titled“METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR ELECTROPLATING AND SEED LAYER DETECTION,”which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/160,471,filed on Jan. 21, 2014 and titled “METHODS AND APPARATUSES FORELECTROPLATING AND SEED LAYER DETECTION,” both of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure relates to the fabrication of electronic devices, theelectroplating of semiconductor substrates, electroplating systems andapparatuses having integrated and/or in situ metrology systems forexamining semiconductor wafers during processing, and methods ofperforming metrology and examination of semiconductor wafers duringprocessing.

BACKGROUND

The fabrication of integrated circuits often involves one or more stepsof electroplating a layer of conductive metal onto the surface of asemiconductor wafer. For example, in some IC fabrication procedures, anelectroplating operation may be used to fill with metal the variousfeatures formed in the surface of a semiconductor wafer such as, forinstance, the trenches and vias used as conductive paths between variouscircuit elements.

In a typical electroplating operation, the surface of the wafer isexposed to an electroplating bath fluid which contains dissolved ions ofthe metal to be electroplated, and an electrical circuit is createdbetween an electrode in the bath (which serves as an anode) and surfaceof the wafer (which serves as the cathode). Flow of current through thiscircuit upon application of an applied voltage causes electrons to flowto the cathode surface and reduce dissolved metal ions in its vicinitythereby resulting in the plating out of solution of neutral elementalmetal onto the surface of the wafer.

However, for this circuit to be completed and for electrochemicalreduction of dissolved metal ions to occur, the surface of the wafer(serving as the circuit's cathode) must be, at least to a certainextent, relatively conductive. Accordingly, since the bare surface of asemiconductor wafer is not generally substantially conductive, theactual electroplating step in an electroplating operation is oftenpreceded by the deposition of a conductive seed layer which provides thenecessary conductive surface. Deposition of the seed layer may beaccomplished by any feasible method of depositing the seed material.Suitable methods may include, for example, physical vapor deposition(PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), plasma-enhanced chemical vapordeposition (PECVD), conformal film deposition (CFD), atomic layerdeposition (ALD), and the like. Oftentimes, seed layer deposition andelectroplating is followed by an edge bevel removal (EBR) operation thatremoves seed metal deposited at the edge of the wafer where its presenceis not desired via the application of a thin viscous flow of etchantsolution over the wafer's edge.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Disclosed herein are methods of electroplating a plurality of wafersfrom a set of semiconductor wafers. The methods may include selecting awafer from the set for processing, measuring from the surface of thewafer being processed one or more in-process color signals having one ormore color components, and calculating one or more metrics, each metricindicative of the difference between one of the in-process color signalsand a corresponding set of reference color signals.

The one or more in-process color signals may include a first colorsignal measured at a point on the wafer surface. In some embodiments,the one or more in-process color signals may further include a secondcolor signal measured at a point on the wafer surface. In certain suchembodiments, the first color may be measured from a point within theinterior region of the wafer surface and the second color signal may bemeasured from a point within the edge region of the wafer surface.

The one or more metrics may include a first metric calculated from thefirst in-process color signal and a corresponding first reference set ofcolor signals having one or more color components. In some embodiments,the one or more metrics may further include a second metric calculatedfrom the second in-process color signal and a corresponding secondreference set of color signals having one or more color components.

From the one or more metrics, the methods may further includedetermining whether an acceptable seed layer is present on the wafersurface based on whether a predetermined number of the one or moremetrics are within an associated predetermined range which individuallycorresponds to that metric, and either electroplating the wafer when anacceptable seed layer is present or otherwise designating the waferunacceptable for electroplating. These operations may be repeated forone or more additional wafers from the set of wafers.

Also disclosed herein are electroplating system which may include one ormore wafer storage devices for storing, loading, and unloading wafers,an electroplating module, and a seed layer analysis system. Theelectroplating module may include a cell for containing an anode andelectroplating solution during electroplating, a wafer holder forholding and rotating a wafer during electroplating, and a power supplyfor supplying current to the wafer during electroplating. In someembodiments, the electroplating system may additionally include arobotic wafer transfer mechanism for transferring wafers to and from thewafer storage device, the electroplating module, and/or the seed layeranalysis system.

The seed layer analysis system may include a color sensor for measuringfrom the surface of the wafer being processed one or more in-processcolor signals having one or more color components, and also may includecolor analysis logic. The color analysis logic may analyze the one ormore in-process color signals and determining whether there is anacceptable seed layer present. In some embodiments, the color analysislogic may include logic for calculating one or more metrics, each metricindicative of the difference between one of the in-process color signalsand a corresponding set of reference color signals, and logic fordetermining whether an acceptable seed layer is present on the surfaceof the wafer based on whether each metric corresponding to eachin-process color signal is within a predetermined range corresponding tothat metric. In certain such embodiments, the color analysis logic mayfurther include logic for signaling that the wafer is not acceptable forelectroplating when an acceptable seed layer is not present;

The disclosed electroplating systems may also include a systemcontroller for operating the electroplating system. The systemcontroller may be configured to receive signals from the seed layeranalysis system and further configured to operate the robotic wafertransfer mechanism to prevent the electroplating of a wafer when theseed layer analysis system signals that a wafer is not acceptable forelectroplating.

Also disclosed herein are methods of electroplating a plurality ofwafers from a set of semiconductor wafers which may include selecting awafer from the set for processing and measuring a first set of one ormore in-process color signals from one or more points within theinterior region of the surface of the wafer, each color signal havingone or more color components, and also measuring a second set of one ormore in-process color signals from one or more points within the edgeregion of the surface of the wafer, each color signal having one or morecolor components. In certain such embodiments, a metric may becalculated indicative of the difference between the color signals in thefirst and second sets of in-process color signals, and the methods mayproceed by determining whether an acceptable seed layer is present onthe wafer surface based on whether said metric is within a predeterminedrange, and then either electroplating the wafer when an acceptable seedlayer is present or otherwise designating the wafer unacceptable forelectroplating. These operations may then be repeated for one or moreadditional wafers from the set of wafers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the top surface of a typical waferhaving an interior active circuit region and an edge region, locatedbetween the edge of the wafer and the interior region.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a three color component color spaceusing “a”, “b*”, and “L*” color components.

FIG. 3A illustrates the results of color signal measurement testsperformed on 6 wafers having seed layers of differing thicknessespresent on their surfaces, with measurements taken within the interiorregions and edge regions of the 6 wafers.

FIG. 3B plots the vector difference of the individual color componentsplotted in FIG. 3A for the 6 wafers.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an electroplating system which includesmultiple electroplating modules.

FIG. 5 schematically and cross-sectionally illustrates an electroplatingmodule which could serve as an electroplating module within theelectroplating system exhibited in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6A schematically illustrates a seed layer analysis system having acolor sensor, an additional color sensor, and color analysis logic 780.

FIG. 6B schematically illustrates another embodiment of a seed layeranalysis system.

FIG. 7A schematically illustrates methods for electroplating a pluralityof wafers from a set of wafers employing a seed layer presence detectiontechnique.

FIG. 7B schematically illustrates electroplating methods which aresimilar to those presented in FIG. 7A, but specifically illustrates theuse of first and second color signals measured at points within theinterior and edge regions, respectively, of the surfaces of the wafersbeing processed.

FIG. 7C schematically illustrates electroplating methods which aresimilar to those illustrated in FIG. 7B, but schematically illustratesuse of a detection metric calculated through comparison of thein-process measured edge and interior region color signals with eachother.

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates electroplating methods similar to thosepresented in FIGS. 7A and 7B, but that additionally provide a mechanismfor modifying the reference sets of color signals.

FIG. 9 presents another class of electroplating methods which takeadvantage of the seed layer detection and thickness determinationmethods disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following disclosure, numerous specific embodiments are set forthin order to provide a thorough understanding of the inventive conceptsdisclosed herein. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled inthe art that the inventive concepts disclosed herein may in many casesbe practiced with or without certain of these specific details, such asby the substitution of alternative elements or steps, or the omission ofcertain elements or steps, while remaining within the scope and spiritof the inventive concepts disclosed herein. Furthermore, where certainprocesses, procedures, operations, steps, elements, modules, components,and/or systems are already well-known to those skilled in the art, theymay not be described herein in as great of detail as necessarilypossible, in order that the important aspects of the disclosed inventiveconcepts are not unnecessarily obscured.

Seed Layer Presence Detection and Acceptability Determination Methods

Attempted electroplating of a semiconductor wafer lacking a seed layernot only generally substantially fails to deposit the desired layer ofconducive metal, it also frequently results in severe damage to thewafer itself. Thus, in many circumstances, an unseeded wafer may not besimply returned to the previous seed layer deposition step for anothertry, but instead must be disposed of, potentially cumulatively resultingin a significant loss to a semiconductor fabrication procedure's netwafer production. Accordingly, methods and apparatuses for preventingthe attempted electroplating of unseeded semiconductor wafers aredesired, as well as electroplating systems incorporating such methodsand apparatuses.

For these reasons, it is desirable to determine the presence or absenceof a seed layer on a semiconductor wafer prior to initiating anelectroplating operation on the wafer, and thus it is valuable tointegrate this capability into electroplating operations andapparatuses. Moreover, beyond establishment of the presence of the seedlayer, the capability of analyzing a seed layer to estimate itsthickness is also advantageous, because seed layers of a certainthickness are generally desired and/or required in electroplatingoperations.

Accordingly, disclosed herein are methods of determining the presence orabsence of a seed layer on a wafer which is intended to serve as a basisfor subsequent electroplating operations and, in some embodiments,additionally determining the approximate thickness of the seed layer toserve as an additional electroplating diagnostic. These methods mayoperate by detecting the presence of the seed layer through the use ofone or more color signals measured from one or more points on thewafer's surface where the seed layer is expected to be found (ifpresent). Note that, depending on the embodiment, a color signal couldcomprise a single color component or multiple color components asdescribed in greater detail below. Furthermore, depending on theembodiment, one or more color signals may be measured from one or morepoints within the interior region of a wafer's surface, or from one ormore points within the edge region of a wafer's surface, or from bothregions. For instance, in some embodiments, the one or more colorsignals may a first color signal measured at a point within the interiorregion of the wafer surface, and/or a second color signal measured at apoint within the edge region of the wafer surface. In some embodiments,the second color signal may also be measured at a point with theinterior region of the wafer surface. In some embodiments, the one ormore color signals may include third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh,eight, ninth, tenth, etc. color signals, any of which may be measured ata point within the edge region or interior region of the wafer surface,depending on the embodiment.

The value of one or more metrics may be calculated from one or morecolor signals measured from the surface of the wafer being tested—whichmay be referred to as “probe” signals—which tend to indicate thepresence or absence of a seed layer on the test wafer. For instance,each metric may be indicative of the difference between one of themeasured color signals and a corresponding set of reference colorsignals. Thus, in some embodiments, the metrics may include a firstmetric calculated from a first measured color signal and a correspondingfirst reference set of color signals having one or more colorcomponents; in certain such embodiments, the metrics may further includea second metric calculated from a second measured color signal and acorresponding second reference set of color signals having one or morecolor components; in certain such embodiments, the metrics may furtherinclude a third metric calculated from a third measured color signal anda corresponding third reference set of color signals having one or morecolor components; and so forth for optional fourth, fifth, sixth,seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, etc. probe color signals, andcorresponding sets of reference color signals and calculated metrics. Ofcourse, it should be understood that if first and second measured probecolor signals correspond to locations on the wafer which are expected toyield similar color signals if a seed layer is present, both first andsecond color signals may both be compared to the same reference set ofcolor signals, which would then serve as both the first and second setsof reference color signals using the terminology above. And, likewise,the same may hold for embodiments described in terms of three or morereference sets of color signals.

The one or more reference color signals may be stored color signalsmeasured from points on the surface of one or more reference waferswhere a seed layer was known to be located when the measurement wasmade. In some embodiments, the one or more reference color signals maybe stored color signals previously measured from points on the surfaceof one or more wafers which were previously processed and determined tohave a seed layer present, as described in more detail below. As withthe probe color signals, the reference color signals may be measured atpoints within the interior regions or edge regions of wafers having aseed layer present. Generally, a set of reference color signals willcorrespond to the probe color signals which are being compared to it.Thus, in some embodiments, if a wafer is tested by measuring a firstcolor signal from an interior region of its surface, then the firstreference set of color signals to which it is compared would also havebeen measured from the interior region of one or more wafers known tohave an acceptable seed layer present. Likewise, if, for example, thewafer is also tested by measuring a second color signal from an interiorregion of its surface, then the second reference set of color signals towhich this test signal is compared would also have been measured fromthe edge region of one or more wafers known to have an acceptable seedlayer present. In other embodiments, if both first and second probecolor signals are measured from the interior region of a wafer, thenthey may both be compared against a reference set measured from theinterior regions of one or more wafers having an acceptable seed layerpresent and, as described above, in some embodiments, the same set ofmeasurements may serve as references for comparing both measured probesignals.

The metric which serves as a basis of comparison between probe andreference color signals may provide a quantitative assessment of thedifference between the measured probe color signal and one or a set ofreference color signals. If the set of reference color signals ischaracteristic of wafers having an acceptable seed layer present, andthe value of the metric is within a predetermined range, then it may besurmised that the test wafer in question has an acceptable seed layerpresent. For instance, in some embodiments, the metric may be indicativeof the magnitude of the vector difference between a measured probe colorsignal and the vector average of a corresponding reference set of colorsignals, and if the metric is within a predetermine range indicative ofthe average deviation associated with the vector average, then it may besurmised that the wafer in question has an acceptable seed layerpresent. In certain embodiments, the predetermined range may be theaverage deviation associated with the vector average, or 2 times theaverage deviation associated with the vector average, or 3 times theaverage deviation associated with the vector average, or anypredetermined range whose endpoints are set according to some multipleof the average deviation associated with the vector average.

It is noted, that additionally, in some embodiments, the calculatedmetric may also be used to infer the approximate thickness of the seedlayer if it is present. This may be, for example, in embodiments wherethere are several sets of reference color signals corresponding towafers having seed layers present of varying thicknesses, which then mayprovide the opportunity for a comparison metric to also give anindication of the thickness of the seed layer on the test wafer.

The mathematical function representing the comparison metric could beimplemented as an analytic function of the color signals, it could beimplemented in a look-up table, or it could potentially be implementedusing some other computational methodology (a mixture of analyticfunction evaluation and table look-up, for instance). In the examplejust described, one suitable mathematical function of the color signalswhich could serve as a suitable comparison metric is the magnitude ofthe vector difference between the one or more color components of theprobe color signal and the vector average of the reference colorsignals. If the probe and reference color signals consist of a singlecolor component (for example, the sole color component could representthe intensity of a narrow band of blue light) then the vector differencereduces to the absolute value of the scalar difference between the probecolor signal and the scalar average of the set of reference colorsignals. If there are two or more components, then the magnitude of theaforementioned vector difference would generally be written as

${\Delta \; E} = \sqrt{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}\left\{ {{c_{i}({probe})} - {\frac{1}{n}{\sum\limits_{j = 1}^{n}{c_{i}\left( {{reference}\mspace{14mu} j} \right)}}}} \right\}^{2}}$

where c_(i) is the i^(th) component of the probe and reference colorsignals, N is the number of color signal components, and n is the numberof color signals in the reference set (as is readily understood by onehaving ordinary skill in the art). Of course, a metric consisting of ascaled version of the magnitude of this vector difference would worksimilarly (the scaling possibly due to unit conversion, for example), aswould various monotonic functions of the vector difference magnitude.One of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that thespecific functional form of the metric is not critical as long as itresults in a value indicative of the difference between the probe andthe set of reference color signals. If the metric is chosen to be amonotonically increasing function of the magnitude of the vectordifference between the probe and the vector average of the set ofreference color signals, then the calculated value of the metric may becompared to a predetermined value, and if it is less than the value itmay be determined that the measured color signal indicates a seed layeris present on the test wafer. As indicated above, the threshold valuemay be indicative of, e.g. be a multiple of, the average deviationassociated with the vector average. It is noted, that in the context ofthis disclosure, the average deviation associated with the vectoraverage of a set of several reference color signals having multiplecolor components is given by:

$\sigma = {\frac{1}{n}{\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{n}{{{c\left( {{reference}\mspace{14mu} k} \right)} - {c({avg})}}}}}$where${{{c\left( {{reference}\mspace{14mu} k} \right)} - {c({avg})}}} = \sqrt{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}\left\{ {{c_{i}\left( {{reference}\mspace{14mu} k} \right)} - {\frac{1}{n}{\sum\limits_{j = 1}^{n}{c_{i}\left( {{reference}\mspace{14mu} j} \right)}}}} \right\}^{2}}$

(as is readily appreciated by one having ordinary skill in the art) with| . . . | thereby designating the vector norm.

If the approximate thickness of a reference wafer's seed layer is known,then a measured probe color signal's similarity to a color signalmeasure from the reference wafer may be used to gauge the approximatethickness of the test wafer's seed layer. For instance, if a comparisonmetric indicates that the probe signal is sufficiently similar to a setof color signals measured from a set of reference wafers of knownthicknesses, then it may be inferred that the test wafer's seed layer isapproximately the same thickness as that of the average of that set ofreference wafers. However, if there are multiple sets of reference colorsignals available for comparison, each measured from a different set ofreference wafers having seed layers of approximately the samethicknesses within a set, but having different thicknesses going fromset to set, then this additional information may be analyzed andexploited to better estimate the approximate seed layer thickness on thetest wafer. Thus, for example, to exploit this information, a wafer seedlayer thickness determination methodology may include calculating thevalue of additional metrics indicative of the differences between theprobe color signal measured off the test wafer and the probe colorsignals measured off each set of reference wafers having seed layers ofknown thicknesses. As described above, a monotonic function of themagnitude of the vector difference between the components of the probecolor signal and the vector average of the components of color signalswithin each set of reference color signals may be used as the functionalform of these different metrics corresponding to the different referencewafers. After they are computed, the metrics associated with thecomparison between the probe color signal and each set of referencewafers (of particular mean thicknesses) may be analyzed to develop anestimate of the approximate thickness of the seed layer on the testwafer.

Many approaches may be employed for performing this multi-referencewafer based thickness determination analysis. One method is to reviewthe values of all the metrics which indicate the differences between theprobe color signal and the sets of reference color signals, and toidentify from these values which set of reference wafers have a measuredcolor signal closest to the color signal measured from the test wafer.Or, more specifically, within some statistical variation associated witha particular set of reference wafers. Of course, in some embodiments, aset of reference color signals may consist of just a single color signalmeasured from a single reference wafer of known thickness, and thereforejust a comparison with this reference signal would be used to determinesimilarity to this reference set. In any event, the test wafer's seedlayer thickness may be determined based on the aforementioned comparisonmetrics to be approximately equal to the mean thicknesses of the seedlayers of the set of reference wafers which are judged most similar.More complicated approaches may also be employed however. For instance,multiple sets of color signals measured from multiple sets of referencewafers having known seed layer thicknesses may be used to develop afunctional relationship between color signal and seed layer thickness,and this relationship may be used to estimate the seed layer thicknessof the test wafer based on the color signal measured from its surface.This functional relationship between seed thickness and color signalcould be linear, or roughly linear, or nonlinear, depending on thescenario. The functional relationship will never be exact, of course,but a best fit functional relationship may be selected or determinedfrom one or more trial functional forms fit to a given set of data (i.e.color signal measurements from reference wafers of known seed layerthicknesses). The best fit will presumably establish values for one ormore parameters associated with the functional form as is readilyappreciated by one having skill in the art (e.g., the slope andintercept of a line if the functional relationship is assumed to belinear). Of course, as will also be appreciated by one having ordinaryskill in the art, once a functional relationship between color signaland seed thickness is determined (whether it be linear, non-linear,etc.), the function may be applied to a measured color signal viaanalytic function evaluation, look-up table, etc. to calculate anapproximate seed layer thickness. Development of a function whichrelates seed layer thickness to measured color signal allows thedetermination of approximate seed thicknesses which are in between theseed thickness values exhibited in the sets of reference wafers. Thus,the embodiments just described rely on the use of one or more sets ofreference color signals potentially measured from one or more sets ofreference wafers and potentially stored thereafter as a basis forcomparison with the color signal measured from a point on the testwafer.

A wafer whose seed layer may be detected by the methods disclosedherein—and, in some embodiments, have the thickness of this seed layerapproximately determined—is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 1schematically illustrates the top surface of a typical test wafer 100having an interior “active circuit” region 102 and an edge region 103,located between the edge of the wafer 101 and the interior region 102.

Since, deposition (typically via PVD) of the seed layer—to beelectroplated upon in subsequent electroplating operations—is typicallymore uniform in the interior region 102 of the wafer than in the edgeregion 103, in some embodiments, the probe color signal is measured froma point within this interior region 102, so as to provide a reliablevalue(s) for comparison with the stored reference color signal(s).However, in some embodiments, measurement of a probe color signal at apoint within the edge region of the wafer being tested may provide anadditional benefit. This is because if the color signal measured fromthe edge region is substantially different from those in a reference set(also measured from the edge region of properly seeded wafers), it mayindicate that edge bevel removal (EBR) has already been performed onthis particular wafer, and due to the fact that EBR is typicallyperformed after electroplating, this may provide an indication that theparticular wafer has already been electroplated and is thereforeunsuitable for electroplating, despite the fact that from a technicalstandpoint a seed layer is present underneath the electroplated layer.As a result, probe signal measurement within the edge region may be aneffective way to prevent any duplicative electroplating operation (andduplicative EBR operation) which would likely render a wafer unsuitablefor further processing.

In order to illustrate the feasibility of using one or more color signalcomponents to detect seed layer presence and/or measure seed layerthickness from the surface of a semiconductor wafer, data from a testexample is exhibited in FIGS. 3A and 3B. The color signal measured inthese tests consisted of three color components labeled “a”, “b*”, and“L*” in FIG. 3A. This particular representation of color space isschematically illustrated in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the “a*” colorcomponent indicates the relative proportion of green to red in the colorsignal, the “b*” color component indicates the relative proportion ofblue to yellow in the color signal, and the “L*” color component isindicative of the overall luminosity or brightness of the color signal.Of course, while a value of (a*,b*,L*) designates a position in thisparticular color space, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognizethat other representations of color space are also feasible, and thatthe actual physical color designated by a particular (a*,b*,L*) tripletin this color space will be potentially designated by a differenttriplet value of color components in a different color space. Moreover,one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that theinventive concepts disclosed herein are not restricted to thisparticular representation of color space in terms of a*, b*, and L*components.

Returning to FIG. 3A, as shown in the figure, color signals weremeasured at points within the interior regions and edge regions of 6wafers having seed layers of differing thicknesses present on theirsurfaces. A portion of the seed layer on each wafer was removed near itsedge region thereby setting up a scenario where deposited seed layer waspresent within the interior regions of the wafers but absent within theedge regions. This provided a test vehicle for evaluating thesensitivity of measured color signals to various seed layer thicknesses,to assess color differentiation based on seed layer thickness, etc. Thedesignation “50 A_EBR” in FIG. 3A indicates the tested wafer's surfacehad a 50 angstrom seed layer present, the “100 A_EBR” designation, a 100angstrom seed layer present, and so forth. For each wafer, the dataplotted in FIG. 3A consists of three color signal components (a*,b*,L*)measured from that particular wafer's edge region and another threecolor components (a*,b*,L*) measured from that particular wafer'sinterior region (labeled “Field” in FIG. 3A's legend).

The variation in measured color component intensities (a*,b*,L*) overthe various wafers shown in FIGS. 3A and B illustrates the feasibilityof using color component analysis to detect seed layer presence andalso, in some embodiments, to estimate its thickness. For instance, thea* and b* color components show a significant difference between edgeand interior regions, even at 50 and 100 angstroms, and furthermore thisedge-to-interior difference between individual a* and b* colorcomponents is seen to generally increase with increasing seed layerthickness. Thus, in some embodiments, the methods and apparatusesdisclosed herein may be used to detect an acceptable copper seed layerhaving a thickness of less than about 200 angstroms, and in certain suchembodiments, an acceptable copper seed layer having a thickness ofbetween about 50 and 150 angstroms.

Use of color difference to detect seed layer presence and/or thicknessis further illustrated in FIG. 3B. To be precise, FIG. 3B plots themagnitude of the vector difference, ΔE, between the three colorcomponents measured within each wafer's interior region and the threecolor components measured within each wafer's edge region. I.e., FIG. 3Bplots the vector difference, ΔE, of the individual a*, b*, L* colorcomponents plotted in FIG. 3A. FIG. 3B shows that as seed layerthickness is increased, the color difference, ΔE, between the wafer edgewhere no seed is present and interior regions also increases, in aroughly linear fashion. (It is noted that although the bar on the plotcorresponding to the wafer with the 1000 angstrom seed layer shows somedeviation from the linear relationship exhibited by the other measuredwafers, this is thought to be due to challenges associated with thethicker 1000 angstrom seed layer in etching away copper from the wafer'sedge, which resulted in a smaller edge region and more difficulty inpositioning the probe for color signal measurement. This is because theetchant spends more time reacting to the increased levels of copper itencounters on the thicker seed edges.)

In any event, of significance in FIG. 3B is the fact that there is asignificant measurable color difference (ΔE) between the edge andinterior regions of a wafer having only 50 angstroms of seed present, incontrast to the nearly zero color difference (ΔE) corresponding to thewafer with no seed present (see leftmost bar on FIG. 3B). The nearlyzero color difference (ΔE) for this wafer with no seed presentdemonstrates the sensitivity of the color signal differencing techniqueand its reliability at discerning no color difference when none exists.Prior methods of in situ seed layer detection operated by comparing agrayscale intensity measured from a point within the wafer's interiorregion to a grayscale intensity measured from a reference target set upin the processing chamber. These prior methodologies were typicallyunable to reliably detect seed layers having thicknesses less than 200angstroms. FIG. 3B demonstrates that by using the methodologiesdisclosed herein, thin seed layers of thickness below 200 angstroms canbe unambiguously detected, and in some embodiments, seed layers whichare only 50 angstroms thick can be accurately detected. In fact, thedata suggests that, in some embodiments, it is likely feasible to detectcopper seed layers which are less than 25 angstroms thick or even downto about 10 angstroms thick (although this experiment has not beencarried out here). Thus, in some embodiments, the methods andapparatuses disclosed herein may use ΔE to detect the presence orabsence of a acceptable thin copper seed layer having a thickness ofless than about 50 angstroms, or less than about 25 angstroms, or evenless than about 10 angstroms.

Another important aspect of the present disclosure illustrated by FIG.3A relates to the selection of color components for use in a wafer seedlayer detection and/or thickness determination methodology. The vectordifferences plotted in FIG. 3B were calculated using all three of thecolor components (a*,b*,L*) plotted in FIG. 3B, however 3A illustratesthat not all color components are equally useful. For instance, thevariation (between edge and interior) in the L* component is only veryslight for wafers having seed layers of 200 angstrom thickness andbelow. It is therefore thought that the L* color component is generallyless suitable for color difference-based detection techniques than thea* and b* color components. Since the L* component represents theluminosity or overall brightness of the color signal, this may accountfor the difficulty of the standard grayscale seed detection methodologyto identify the presence or absence of seed layers less than 200angstroms thick.

Thus, one optimization apparent from FIG. 3A is to only use the a* andb* color components to calculate the color difference ΔE, and anadditional optimization would be to not measure the L* component at all.Going a step further, certain method embodiments may only analyze asingle color component of a multi-component color signal, or similarly,may analyze a color signal which consists of only a single colorcomponent. In the case of FIGS. 3A and 3B, this could mean selectingeither the a* or b* color component depending on which one shows thelargest variation over various seed layer thicknesses. In this regard,FIG. 3A seems to indicate that b* would be the superior choice if onlyone color component was to be used. As indicated above, if the colordifference ΔE is calculated based upon a single color component, thenthe equation for ΔE shown above reduces simply to the absolute value ofthe difference between the one color component of the probe and theaverage of that color component over the set of reference color signals:

${\Delta \; E} = {{{c_{1}({probe})} - {\frac{1}{n}{\sum\limits_{j = 1}^{n}{c_{1}\left( {{reference}\mspace{14mu} j} \right)}}}}}$

where “reference,” once again, could refer to a stored color signaland/or a color signal measured contemporaneously on a reference wafer.Thus, in this disclosure, calculation of ΔE via the magnitude of thevector difference between the color components of a measured colorsignal and the average of a set of reference color signals is intendedto include the case where each color signal contains a single colorcomponent and the formula reduces to the absolute value of thedifference between the two terms.

Accordingly, methods and apparatuses disclosed herein for determiningthe presence and/or approximate thickness of a seed layer on asemiconductor wafer may measure color signals—from wafer surfaces—havingsingle (first) color components, two (first and second) colorcomponents, or three (first, second, and third) color components.Metrics may be calculated which are indicative of the differencesbetween these color signals—whether having one, two, or three colorcomponents—and the presence or absence of a seed layer and optionallyits thickness may be estimated based on the value of these metrics. Itis also feasible in principle to use more than three color components,such as 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or 16 color components in the measurementsand analysis, or a number of color components in a range spanning 8 to16 color components, or 16 to 32 color components, or 32 to 64 colorcomponents, or 64 to 128 color components, or 128 to 256 colorcomponents. If 3 or less color components are used, these colorcomponents may be chosen to be any combination of the *a, *b, or *Lcolor components illustrated schematically in FIG. 2 and measured andplotted for the test wafers in FIG. 3A, or a combination of other typesof color components (whether one, two, three) such as, for example, RGB(red, green, blue) color components.

Finally, it should also be noted that although it is generally the casethat the probe and reference color signals would include the same typeand number of color components, it is not necessarily required. A metricindicative of the difference between the two color signals (or between ameasured signal and a vector average) having different numbers of colorcomponents could still be computed by ignoring the extra colorcomponents, for example. In yet other embodiments, the components of theprobe color signal may represent different color space components thanthe components of the one or more reference color signals. If this isthe case, various color space vector projection methods may be used tostill formulate a meaningful comparison metric.

Electroplating Systems with Integrated Seed Layer Analysis Systems andColor Sensors

For the reasons described above, it is advantageous for anelectroplating apparatus to have the capability of determining whether awafer designated for electroplating in fact has the requisite seed layerpresent on its surface prior to initiating an electroplating operation.Accordingly, disclosed herein are electroplating modules and systemshaving seed layer analysis systems which implement the methods of seedlayer presence detection and optional thickness determination disclosedin the previous section. However, since these apparatuses are first andforemost devices for performing electroplating operations, the generalcharacteristics of these devices relating to their electroplatingfunction will be described first. For instance, one example of anelectroplating system which may potentially benefit from integration ofsuch a seed layer analysis system is the SABRE™ system available fromLam Research Corp., aspects of which are described in U.S. Pat. No.6,156,167, “CLAMSHELL APPARATUS FOR ELECTROCHEMICALLY TREATINGSEMICONDUCTOR WAFERS,” which is hereby incorporated by reference hereinin its entirety for all purposes.

Thus, In order to facilitate understanding of the various conceptsdisclosed herein, FIGS. 4 and 5 and accompanying written descriptionpresent the specific details of one electroplating system embodiment, aswell as an electroplating module which may be employed within thesystem, and also a brief description of associated electroplatingoperations. While the figures and accompanying written description arepresented in order to provide a concrete illustration of the inventiveconcepts disclosed herein, they are, of course, not to be construed aslimiting those inventive concepts to these specific embodiments.

Electroplating Systems

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an electroplating system 307 which mayinclude multiple electroplating modules, in this case the three separatemodules 309, 311, and 313. As described more fully below, eachelectroplating module typically includes a cell for containing an anodeand an electroplating solution during electroplating, and a wafer holderfor holding the wafer in the electroplating solution and rotating thewafer during electroplating. The electroplating system 307 shown in FIG.4 further includes three separate post-electrofill modules (PEMs) 315,317 and 319. Depending on the embodiment, each of these may be employedto perform any of the following functions: edge bevel removal (EBR),backside etching, and acid cleaning of wafers after they have beenelectrofilled by one of modules 309, 311, and 313. Note that apost-electrofill module (PEM) which performs edge bevel removal (EBR)will alternatively be referred to herein simply as an EBR module.Electroplating system 307 may also includes a chemical dilution module321 and a central electrofill bath 323. The latter may be a tank thatholds the chemical solution used as the electroplating bath in theelectrofill modules. Electroplating system 307 may also include a dosingsystem 333 that stores and delivers chemical additives for the platingbath. If present, the chemical dilution module 321 may store and mixchemicals to be used as the etchant in the post electrofill modules. Insome embodiments, a filtration and pumping unit 337 filters the platingsolution for central bath 323 and pumps it to the electrofill modules.

Finally, in some embodiments, an electronics unit 339 may serve as asystem controller providing the electronic and interface controlsrequired to operate electroplating system 307. The system controllertypically includes one or more memory devices and one or more processorsconfigured to execute instructions so that the electroplating system canperform its intended process operations. Machine-readable mediacontaining instructions for controlling process operations in accordancewith the implementations described herein may be coupled to the systemcontroller. Unit 339 may also provide a power supply for the system.

In operation, a robotic wafer transfer mechanism may be used fortransferring wafers to and from one or more wafer storage devices, oneor more electroplating modules, and one or more seed layer analysissystems (although, it is noted that in some embodiments, a seed layeranalysis system may analyze wafers while held in the wafer holder of anelectroplating module). For example, referring again to FIG. 4, a robotincluding a back-end robot arm 325 may be used to select wafers from awafer cassette, such as a cassette 329A or 329B, which serve as waferstorage devices for storing, loading, and unloading wafers. Back-endrobot arm 325 may attach to the wafer using a vacuum attachment or someother feasible attaching mechanism.

A front-end robot arm 340 may select a wafer from a wafer cassette suchas the cassette 329A or the cassette 329B. The cassettes 329A or 329Bmay be front opening unified pods (FOUPs). A FOUP is an enclosuredesigned to hold wafers securely and safely in a controlled environmentand to allow the wafers to be removed for processing or measurement bytools equipped with appropriate load ports and robotic handling systems.The front-end robot arm 340 may hold the wafer using a vacuum attachmentor some other attaching mechanism. The front-end robot arm 340 mayinterface with the cassettes 329A or 329B, a transfer station 350, or analigner 331. From the transfer station 350, back-end robot arm 325 maygain access to the wafer. The transfer station 350 may be a slot or aposition to and from which front-end robot arm 340 and back-end robotarm 325 may pass wafers without going through the aligner 331. In someimplementations, however, to ensure that a wafer is properly aligned onthe back-end-robot 325 for precision delivery to an electroplatingmodule, the back-end robot arm 325 may align the wafer with aligner 331.Back-end robot arm 325 may also deliver a wafer to one of theelectrofill modules 309, 311, or 313 or to one of the threepost-electrofill modules 315, 317, and 319.

In situations where the aligner module 331 is to be used to ensure thatthe wafer is properly aligned on back-end robot arm 325 for precisiondelivery to an either an electroplating module 309, 311, or 313, or anEBR module 315, 317, and 319 (assuming these PEMs perform EBR), back-endrobot arm 325 transports the wafer to aligner module 331. In certainembodiments, aligner module 331 includes alignment arms against whichback-end robot arm 325 pushes the wafer. When the wafer is properlyaligned against the alignment arms, the back-end robot arm 325 moves toa preset position with respect to the alignment arms. In otherembodiments, the aligner module 331 determines the wafer center so thatthe back-end robot arm 325 picks up the wafer from the new position. Itthen reattaches to the wafer and delivers it to one of theelectroplating modules 309, 311, or 313, or EBR modules 315, 317, and319.

Thus, in a typical operation of forming a layer of metal on a waferusing the electroplating system 307, back-end robot arm 325 transports awafer from wafer cassette 329A or 329B to aligner module 331 forpre-electroplating centering adjustment, then to electroplating module309, 311, or 313 for electroplating, then back to aligner module 331 forpre-EBR centering adjustment, and then to EBR module 315, 317, or 319for edge bevel removal. Of course, in some embodiments, acentering/alignment step may be omitted if realignment of the wafer istypically not necessary.

As described more fully below, the electroplating operation may involveloading the wafer in a clamshell type wafer holder and lowering theclamshell into an electroplating bath contained within a cell of one ofelectroplating modules 309, 311, or 313 where the electroplating is totake place. The cell oftentimes contains an anode which serves as asource of the metal to be plated (although the anode may be remote), aswell as an electroplating bath solution oftentimes supplied by thecentral electrofill bath reservoir 323 along with optional chemicaladditives from a dosing system 333. The EBR operation subsequent to theelectroplating operation typically involves removing unwantedelectroplated metal from the edge bevel region and possibly the backsideof the wafer by way of applying an etchant solution which is provided bychemical dilution module 321. After EBR, the wafer is typically cleaned,rinsed, and dried.

Finally, it is noted that after post-electrofill processing is complete,back-end robot arm 325 may retrieve the wafer from the EBR module andreturns it to cassette 329A or 329B. From there the cassettes 329A or329B may be provided to other semiconductor wafer processing systemssuch as a chemical mechanical polishing system, for example.

Electroplating Modules

A specific embodiment of an electroplating module—where the actualoperation of electroplating is performed—is schematically andcross-sectionally illustrated in FIG. 5. Such an embodiment could serveas any of electroplating system 307's electroplating modules 309, 311,and/or 313 as described above and shown in FIG. 4. Referring again toFIG. 5, the illustrated electroplating module 401 includes anelectroplating cell 403 that contains the electroplating solution and ananode during electroplating, which is shown at a level 405. A wafer 407may be immersed in the electroplating solution while held by a“clamshell” holding fixture 409, the clamshell mounted on a rotatablespindle 411. The rotatable spindle allows for rotation of clamshell 409together with the wafer 407. Once again, the SABRE™ system availablefrom Lam Research Corp., aspects of which are described in U.S. Pat. No.6,156,167, incorporates a clamshell-type electroplating apparatus.Aspects of clamshell-type electroplating apparatuses are furtherdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,800,187. Both of the foregoing patents arehereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes. Ofcourse, wafer holders other than clamshell-type fixtures mayalternatively be employed.

The anode 413 is disposed below the wafer 407 within the electroplatingcell 403 and is separated from the wafer region by an anode membrane415, which is an ion selective membrane in some implementations. Theregion below the anode membrane is often referred to as an “anodicregion” or as an “anode chamber” and electrolyte within this chamber as“anolyte,” while the region above the anode membrane is often referredto as a “cathodic region” or as a “cathode chamber” and the electrolyewithin this chamber as “catholyte.” The anode membrane 415 allows ioniccommunication between the anodic and cathodic regions of theelectroplating cell, while preventing any particles generated at theanode from entering the proximity of the wafer and contaminating it. Theanode membrane may also be useful in redistributing current flow duringthe electroplating processes and thereby improve electroplatinguniformity. Anode membranes are further described in U.S. Pat. Nos.6,126,798 and 6,569,299, both of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

The electroplating solution may be continuously provided toelectroplating cell 403 by a pump 417. Generally, the electroplatingsolution flows upwards through an anode membrane 415 and a resistiveelement 419 to the center of wafer 407 and then radially outward andacross the wafer. In some implementations, the electroplating solutionmay be provided into the anodic region of the electroplating cell 403from the side of the electroplating cell. In some implementations, theelectroplating solution may be supplied through separate inlets intoanodic and cathodic regions of the electroplating cell 403.

The resistive element 419 is located in close proximity of the wafer(within about 10 millimeters or between about 3 to 8 millimeters, invarious embodiments) and serves as a constant current source to thewafer. That is, the resistive element 419 shapes the electrolyte currentnear the wafer to provide a relatively uniform current distribution overthe wafer surface. The element contains a plurality of one-dimensionalthrough holes, as described further below. Further details regardingresistive elements may be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/291,356, titled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ELECTROPLATING,” and filedNov. 7, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

After the electroplating solution flows across the surface of the wafer,some of the solution may overflow the electroplating cell 403 to anoverflow reservoir 421, as indicated by arrows 423. The electroplatingsolution may be filtered (not shown) and returned to pump 417, asindicated by arrow 425, completing the recirculation of theelectroplating solution.

In some embodiments, such as that shown in FIG. 4, an electroplatingmodule may employ a second cathode chamber 427 containing a secondcathode 429 (i.e., a thief cathode) which may be located on the outsideof the electroplating cell 403 and peripheral to the wafer 407.Generally, the second cathode 429 may be positioned at a number oflocations within the electroplating cell or outside the electroplatingcell. In some embodiments, the electroplating solution overflows a weirwall of the electroplating cell 403 into the second cathode chamber 427.In some embodiments, the second cathode chamber 427 is separated fromthe electroplating cell 403 by a wall having multiple openings coveredby an ion-permeable membrane. The membrane allows ionic communicationbetween the electroplating cell 403 and the second cathode chamber 427,thereby allowing current to be diverted to the second cathode. The useof the second cathode 429 can substantially reduce center-to-edgenon-uniformity which typically results from terminal and field effects.A second cathode may be used either alone or in combination with furtherauxiliary cathodes or with a variety of fixed or dynamic shields.Further details regarding auxiliary cathodes, including secondary andtertiary cathodes, can be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/481,503, titled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ELECTROPLATING,” and filedJun. 9, 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference. It should beunderstood that the secondary/auxiliary cathode and its associated powersupply/supplies as well as any other associated hardware elements areoptional features of an electroplating module.

During electroplating, of course, current is supplied to the wafersurface so that the electrochemical reduction of whatever metal is beingplated (e.g., Cu²⁺+2e⁻→Cu) may occur. Thus, two DC power supplies 435and 437 can be used to control current flow to the wafer 407 and to thesecond cathode 429, respectively. A power supply 435 has a negativeoutput lead 439 electrically connected to the wafer 407 through one ormore slip rings, brushes, or contacts (not shown). The positive outputlead 441 of the power supply 435 is electrically connected to the anode413 located in electroplating cell 403. The power supply may have anoutput voltage of up to about 250 volts, for example. Similarly, a powersupply 437 has a negative output lead 443 electrically connected to thesecond cathode 429, and a positive output lead 445 electricallyconnected to the anode 413. Alternatively, one power supply withmultiple independently controllable electrical outlets can be used toprovide different levels of current to the wafer and to the secondcathode. During use, the power supplies 435 and 437 bias both the wafer407 and the second cathode 429 to have a negative potential relative tothe anode 413. This causes an electrical current flowing from anode 413to the wafer 407 to be partially or substantially diverted to the secondcathode 429. The electrical circuit described above may also include oneor several diodes that will prevent reversal of the current flow, whensuch reversal is not desired. An undesired current feedback may occurduring electroplating processes, since the anode 413, which is set atground potential, is the common element of both the wafer circuit andthe second cathode circuit.

The power supplies 435 and 437 may be connected to a controller 447,which allows modulation of current and electrical potential provided tothe elements of the electroplating module 401. For example, thecontroller may allow electroplating either in current-controlled orpotential-controlled regimes. The controller 447 may include programinstructions specifying current and voltage levels that need to beapplied to various elements of the electroplating module, as well astimes at which these levels need to be changed. For example, it mayinclude program instructions for transitioning from potential-control tocurrent-control upon immersion of the wafer into the electroplatingsolution. In embodiments lacking a second cathode chamber and thiefcathode, a single power supply may be used to supply and control currentflow to the wafer 407 during electroplating.

Another optional features of an electroplating module are one or moreshields, such as shield 449, which can be positioned within theelectroplating cell 403 between the resistive element 419 and the anode413 (e.g., below the resistive element in wafer-facing-down systems).The shields are usually ring-shaped dielectric inserts, which are usedfor shaping the current profile and improving the uniformity ofelectroplating, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,631,which is hereby incorporated by reference. However, other shield designsand shapes may be employed as are known to those of skill in the art,such as shields taking the shape of wedges, bars, circles, ellipses, andother geometric designs. Ring-shaped inserts may also have patterns attheir inside diameter, which may improve the ability of the shield toshape the current flux in the desired fashion. The function of theshields may differ, depending on their position in the electroplatingcell 403. An electroplating module may include a variety of staticshields, as well as a variety of variable field shaping elements, suchas those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,402,923 and 7,070,686, both ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference. An electroplating module mayalso include a variety of segmented anodes such as those described inU.S. Pat. No. 6,497,801, or concentric anodes such as those described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,755,954 and 6,773,571, all of which are herebyincorporated by reference. While shielding inserts may be useful forimproving electroplating uniformity, they are optional, and alternativeshielding configurations may also be employed.

Integrated Seed Layer Analysis Systems and Color Sensors

The electroplating modules and systems described in the previous sectionmay benefit from the integration of a seed layer analysis system capableof determining whether a wafer designated for electroplating has therequisite seed layer present on its surface prior to initiating anelectroplating operation. Accordingly, disclosed herein areelectroplating systems for electroplating a conductive layer on thesurface of a wafer which include an electroplating module, one or morewafer storage devices for storing, loading, and unloading wafers, and aseed layer analysis system for determining the presence and/or thicknessof a seed layer. As described above, the electroplating module typicallyincludes a cell for containing an anode and electroplating solutionduring electroplating, a wafer holder for holding and rotating a waferduring electroplating, and a power supply for supplying current to thewafer during electroplating. The seed layer analysis system maytypically include a color sensor for measuring a color signal at a pointon the surface of the wafer while held in a wafer holder (of theelectroplating system or, in some embodiments, a separate wafer holderassociated with the seed layer analysis system), and also color analysislogic for analyzing the measured color signal and determining whetherthere is a seed layer present on the surface of the wafer.

FIG. 6A provides a basic schematic of a seed layer analysis system 700having a color sensor 770, an optional additional color sensor 771 (asindicated by dashed lines in the drawing), and color analysis logic 780electronically connected to color sensor 770 via electrical connection778 and optionally to color sensor 771 via electrical connection 779(again, as indicated by the dashed line in the drawing). The colorsensor(s) are oriented schematically in the figure to show theirrelationship to a wafer 724 and wafer holder 726 as they could beoriented within an electroplating system, like electroplating system 307of FIG. 4. Color sensor 770 is oriented so as to measure a color signalfrom the interior region of wafer 724's surface 725, as “interiorregion” is described above, for instance, see interior region 102 ofwafer 100 in FIG. 1. Likewise, optional color sensor 771 is trained onthe edge region of the wafer surface 725, as “edge region” is describedabove, for instance see edge region 103 of wafer 100 in FIG. 1.Furthermore, since wafer holder 725 is mechanically connected to motor728 via rotating shaft 727, the wafer may be rotated as desired andcolor signals may in principle be measured at multiple azimuthallyrotated points within the edge and interior regions of the wafer.Multiple measurements within these regions is, of course, not required,but it may provide an opportunity for improved accuracy and precision,particularly for seed layer thickness determinations, in certainembodiments.

The wafer holder is drawn generically in FIG. 6A so as to be consistentwith the integration of the seed layer analysis system 700 at a varietyof locations within an electroplating system, such as electroplatingsystem 307 of FIG. 4. Possible locations, for example, may include waferaligner module 331, or any of electroplating modules 309 through 313shown within electroplating system 307. In some embodiments, anelectroplating system may have an integrated physical vapor deposition(PVD) module for deposition a seed layer prior to electroplating, andthe wafer seed layer analysis system may be located and configured inthe electroplating system such that it can perform seed layer detectionafter wafers have been processed by the PVD module—since at this point,an acceptable seed layer should be present on the wafer's surface unlesssomething has gone wrong in the PVD process. (Likewise, in someelectroplating methods, a wafer is selected for seed layer detectionafter the wafer has been processed by a physical vapor deposition (PVD)module or tool for depositing a seed layer.)

It should be noted that although wafer holder 726 drawn in FIG. 6A doesnot specifically resemble the clamshell-type wafer holder oftentimesused to hold a wafer within an electroplating module duringelectroplating, such use is specifically envisioned and disclosedherein. The wafer holder, of course, will vary depending on the type ofprocessing module or, more generally, the location within theelectroplating system designed for integration of a seed layer analysissystem. It is further noted with respect to clamshell-typeelectroplating substrate holders, that these designs oftentimes employ alipseal element upon which the wafer rests and which specificallycontacts the wafer in its edge region. As such, a wafer held in certainclamshell-type wafer holder assemblies may not be able to have colorsensor 771 trained at just any point within its edge region, and in someembodiments, no point within the wafer's edge region may be exposed forcolor signal measurement. Various classes of methodologies for seedlayer detection and thickness determination disclosed above do notinvolve measuring a color signal at a point on the wafer's edge region,and so for these embodiments, obstruction by the lipseal is not anissue, but for those methodologies that do rely on such measurements, itmay be possible nevertheless to (i) measure a color from the edge regionif some portion of it remains exposed despite the lipseal, or (ii)measure a color signal off the edge region prior to placement of thewafer on the lipseal, either within the electroplating module or at aprior location in the electroplating system.

Of course, as stated above, integration of an additional color sensor771 is only beneficial in certain cases. As described above, seed layerdetection methods may measure a color signal from the edge region of awafer as well as from the interior region, in some embodiments, becausethe edge color signal may be useful for verifying that the wafer to beelectroplated has not yet been processed by an EBR operation—whichlikely indicates the wafer has already been electroplated. Note that insome embodiments, which do rely on edge region color signal measurement,color sensor 770 may be physically reoriented so as to be trained on theedge region of the wafer to take this measurement, or alternatively thewafer 724 may be moved so that its edge region is within color sensor770's line of sight, or yet as another alternative, a combination ofsensor and wafer movement may be employed. In such embodiments, thesingle color sensor 770 may be used for measuring a first color signalat a point within the interior region of the test wafer's surface andalso used for measuring a second color signal at a point within the edgeregion of the test wafer's surface. In practice, the cost of anadditional color sensor 771 versus the costs associated with themechanical hardware necessary to move color sensor 770 and wafer 724relative to each other will likely be the most important consideration.

As for the color sensor or sensors themselves which are to be used andintegrated into an electroplating system as part of a seed layeranalysis system, these sensors may be capable of measuring just onecolor component or they may be capable of measuring multiple colorcomponents, depending on the embodiment. In some embodiments, the colorsensor employed may be configured to measure three color components,such as the a*, b*, and L* color components described above andschematically illustrated in FIG. 2. In other embodiments, a triplet ofRGB (red, green, blue) color components as are typically used in displayscreens, color cameras, and the like, may serve as the three colorcomponents measured by a multi-color-component color sensor. In someembodiments, instead of a color sensor, a color camera directed at apoint on the wafer's surface may be employed, although it is oftentimesthe case that commercially available color cameras are not as sensitiveto slight color differences as commercially available color sensors.Yet, in principle, a color camera may also be effective, depending onthe embodiment and the desired sensitivity. Color sensors (and possiblycolor cameras, as well) may also be capable of measuring more than threecolor components, and likewise, color sensors (and cameras) may also bedesigned or configured to measure less than three color components. Asan example of the latter, FIG. 3A suggests that a two color componentmeasurement of just the a* and b* color components (leaving out the L*luminosity color component) would be feasible for seed layer detectionand optional thickness measurement. And, in some embodiments, a singlecolor component may be sufficient, such as the a* or b* color componentsof FIG. 3A by themselves.

An example of one suitable color sensor for integration into anelectroplating system which measures the three a*, b*, and L* colorcomponents illustrated in FIG. 2 is the Micro-Epsilon model color sensormanufactured by Micro-Epsilon of Germany. FIG. 6B illustrates a seedlayer analysis system 700 similar to that shown in FIG. 6A, but using acolor sensor-collectively, 770A, 770B, 770C—schematically similar insetup to the Micro-Epsilon color sensor. This particular color sensorconsists of a main housing 770A, which holds the actual color detectionelectronics, coupled to at least two fiber optic lines bundled togetherin a single cable housing 770B which terminates in what can be referredto as a probe housing 770C. During measurement of a color signal from awafer's surface 725, the probe housing 770C is held in close proximityto the point on the surface to be measured, at an angle of approximately90 degrees relative to the horizontal plane of the surface, and whileone of the at least two fiber optic lines inside cable 770B illuminatesthe point on the surface to be color sensed with substantially whitelight 775A, another of the at least two fiber optic lines inside cable770B carries light reflected 775B from the point on the surface back tothe actual electronic color detector located in the color sensor's mainhousing 770A. Of course, whether the physical configuration of the colorsensor 770 is a single physical unit 770 as schematically depicted inFIG. 6A, or whether it includes multiple physical units comprising amain housing 770A, cable housing 770B, and probe housing 770C, asschematically depicted in FIG. 6B, the exact physical configuration isobviously not critical to the operation and functioning of the inventiveconcepts disclosed herein.

It is noted that color sensor 770 as depicted in FIG. 6A also generatesa color signal by measuring light 775 reflected off the wafer surface725 after the surface is illuminated by a source of illumination withincolor sensor 770. (And, optional color sensor 771 is depicted asoperating similarly with respect to measured light 776.) The lightprovided by color sensor 770 (and optionally 771) to illuminate thewafer surface 725 for color signal measurement may be characterized assubstantially white light (as was indicated above with respect to FIG.6B), or it may be light of a particular color, e.g. red, or light havingintensity restricted to a particular range or ranges of wavelengths. Thesame is true for the illumination 775A emitted from probe housing 770Cas depicted in FIG. 6B. Furthermore, although it is typically the casethat a probe color signal and a reference color signal (and/or vectoraverage of reference color signals) to be compared via a comparisonmetric as discussed above would be generated using illumination of thesame character (e.g., red, substantially white, etc.) and of the sameintensity, it is not necessarily the case. Thus, for example, in seedlayer analysis systems employing a color sensor 770 for interior regioncolor signal measurement and a color sensor 771 for edge region colorsignal measurement, the illumination used to generate reflected light775 and 776 may be selected to be of substantially similar character andintensity, or be selected have difference character and/or intensity.Similarly, though a stored reference color signal is generally notmeasured contemporaneously with the probe color signal, illumination ofgenerally substantially the same character and intensity (e.g.substantially white light of substantially the same intensity) would beused to measure both, in order that meaningful comparisons can easily bemade with a suitable comparison metric. Furthermore, in some cases, asdescribed in greater detail below, a measured probe color signal may besubsequently added to a corresponding set of reference color signals, ifit is determined that the wafer from which the probe color signal wasmeasured does indeed have an acceptable seed layer present. In thisoperational setup, since the probe signal may subsequently be treated asa reference signal, it will have been generated using illumination ofthe same character and intensity.

Once the color signals are generated by color sensors 770 and optionally771, they are processed by color analysis logic 780 which analyzes thecolor signals to determine whether an acceptable seed layer is presenton the surface of the wafer, and optionally its thickness. Such analysisimplemented in the color analysis logic 780 may include any of theanalysis methodologies discussed above such as calculation of one ormore metrics indicative of the difference between one or more measuredprobe color signals and one or more corresponding sets of one or morereference color signals, followed by a determination of whether the oneor more metrics fall within a predetermined range corresponding to thatmetric, etc. In some embodiments, the color analysis logic 780 may alsoinclude logic for signaling when an acceptable seed layer is not presenton a wafer.

FIG. 6A shows that color sensor 770 and optionally 771 are in electroniccommunication with color analysis logic 780 through electronicconnection 778 and optionally 779, respectively; and similarly, the mainhousing 770A of the color sensor illustrated in FIG. 6B is in electroniccommunication with color analysis logic 780 through electronicconnection 778. Thus, in these sorts of configurations, the coloranalysis logic is separate from the color sensor(s)—it may, for example,reside on a general purpose computer configured to analyze colorssignals using the appropriate color analysis logic after receipt of thecolor signals from color sensor 770 and/or 771 over a type of serial orparallel electronic communication mechanism (such as a universal serialbus cable). However, in other embodiments, the electronics within acolor sensor itself may contain enough processing power to effectivelyimplement the color analysis logic and apply it to the color signals itmeasures. Thus, for example, color signal processing electronics may belocated within the main housing 770A of the color sensor shown in FIG.6B alongside the color detector electronics.

In yet other embodiments, the electroplating system may employ a mainsystem controller for operating the entire electroplating system, andthe color analysis logic may reside on this system controller. Thus, thesystem controller may be configured to receive color signals from thecolor sensors and process them. In some embodiments, the systemcontroller may be further configured to prevent the electroplating of awafer when its color analysis logic determines that the wafer's seedlayer is either not present or unsuitable for electroplating, perhapsbecause its seed layer is of inadequate thickness.

In embodiments where the color analysis logic does not reside on thesystem controller but is a standalone component or resides on the colorsensor itself, the system controller may still be configured to receivesignals from the seed layer analysis system and prevent theelectroplating of a wafer when the seed layer analysis system signalsthat the wafer's seed layer is either not present orunsuitable/unacceptable for electroplating. In either case, once asystem controller receives a signal that a wafer is not acceptable forelectroplating, in some embodiments, the system controller may operate arobotic wafer transfer mechanism to prevent the electroplating of thewafer deemed unacceptable for electroplating. In certain suchembodiments, the robotic wafer transfer mechanism may operate to movesaid unacceptable wafer to a rejected wafer storage area within thesystem for storing rejected wafers.

Finally, it is to be understood that a seed layer analysis system canalso be viewed as a standalone apparatus to be employed in semiconductorfabrication and processing applications for determining whether there isan acceptable seed layer present on the surface of a semiconductor wafersuitable for subsequent electroplating operations. Thus, for example, insome embodiments, a seed layer analysis system for determining thepresence of a seed layer on a semiconductor wafer (and optionally itsapproximate thickness) may be a device which includes a color sensor formeasuring one or more probe color signals from the surface of asemiconductor wafer, machine-readable media having data stored thereonrepresenting one or more sets of reference color signals, and coloranalysis logic which may employ any suitable version of the seed layerdetection and/or characterization techniques and methodologies describedabove. Depending on the embodiment, the color analysis logic may alsoinclude logic for signaling, e.g. signaling the controller of anelectroplating apparatus, that a wafer is not acceptable forelectroplating because an acceptable seed layer is not present.

Additional Methods of Electroplating Employing Seed Layer Detectionand/or Thickness Determination Methods

Also disclosed herein are methods of electroplating a plurality ofwafers from a set of semiconductor wafers which take advantage of theseed layer presence detection techniques disclosed herein. Thesemethods, for example, may be employed in the context of theelectroplating apparatuses and seed layer analysis systems describedabove.

Certain such methods are schematically illustrated in FIGS. 7A, 7B, andFIG. 8. Referring to FIG. 7A, an embodiment method 800 begins byselecting a wafer for processing from the set of wafers designed forelectroplating in step 820. The method may then proceed by measuringfrom the surface of the wafer being processed an in-process color signalat a point on the surface of the selected wafer in step 830 (forexample, with color sensor 770 of FIG. 6A and/or collectively 770A,770B, 770C of FIG. 6B), and in step 840, calculating a metric indicativeof the difference between the in-process color signal and acorresponding reference set of color signals (for example, utilizingcolor analysis logic 780 of FIGS. 6A and B). Note that, in someembodiments, the in-process color signal may be measured at a pointwithin the interior region of the surface of the wafer being processed,and that the corresponding reference set of color signals may have beenpreviously measured from points within the interior regions of thesurfaces of several wafers having acceptable seed layers present.

If the metric is within a predetermined range corresponding to themetric, as determined in step 850, then an acceptable seed layer isdetermined to be present in step 860, and the method proceeds withelectroplating the wafer in step 870 (for example, by employing anelectroplating module such as electroplating module 401 illustrated inFIG. 5). If in step 850, it is determined that the metric is not withinthe predetermined range corresponding to that metric, then an acceptableseed layer is determined to not be present in step 865, the wafer isdesignated as unacceptable for electroplating in step 875, and theelectroplating step 870 is bypassed. In either event, whether or not theselected wafer is electroplated, the method proceeds to step 880 whereit is determined whether there remain additional wafers from the set ofwafers to be electroplated which have not yet been selected for analysisand possible electroplating. If additional unselected wafers remain, themethod proceeds back to step 820 and one of these unselected wafers isselected, and the steps of the method continue. On the other hand, ifall wafers in the set of wafers designated for possible electroplatinghave been already selected, the method ends.

In certain methods, multiple in-process color signals may be measuredfrom the surface of the wafer selected for processing, multiple metricsmay be calculated each indicative of the difference between one of thein-process color signals and a corresponding set of reference colorsignals, and an acceptable seed layer may be determined to be present ifeach of the one or more metrics are within the associated predeterminedrange which individually corresponds to that metric. Certain suchmethods may further include measuring the sets of reference colorsignals corresponding to the one or more measured in-process colorsignals, and in certain such methods, the sets of reference colorsignals may be measured from the surface of one or more reference wafersat points substantially corresponding to the points where the in-processcolor signals are measured from the surfaces of the wafers beingprocessed. In some embodiments, reference color signals may be measuredfrom points whose locations are substantially the same across themultiple reference wafers, whereas in other embodiments, the locationsof the points on the surfaces of the multiple reference wafers may bechosen randomly. In certain embodiments, the locations of the points onthe surfaces of the one or more reference wafers at which the colorsignals are measured in are a fixed set of repeated azimuthal and radialpositions relative to the wafer edge and alignment notch for each of theone or more reference wafers.

FIG. 7B schematically illustrates a variety of electroplating methodswhich are similar to those presented in FIG. 7A, but that additionallyemploy the use of a second color signal measured at a point within theedge regions of the surfaces of the wafers being processed (for example,with color sensor 771 of FIG. 6A), as an additional diagnostic tool. Inthese sorts of methodologies/configurations, it is often desirable thatthe first color signal be measured at a point within the interior regionof the wafer surface (for example, with color sensor 770 of FIG. 6A).

Thus, after a wafer is selected for processing in step 820, the method801 measures a first in-process color signal at a point within theinterior region of the surface of the selected wafer at step 830 andalso measures, at step 835, a second color signal at a point within theedge region of the surface of the same wafer. These steps may happensequentially or serially, or they may happen somewhat contemporaneouslyor in parallel as is schematically illustrated in the figure. After thefirst in-process color signal is measured, in step 840 (as in the methodof FIG. 7A), a first metric is calculated which is indicative of thedifference between the first color signal and a corresponding firstreference set of color signals. Likewise, after the second in-processcolor signal is measured, in step 845, a second metric is calculatedwhich is indicative of the difference between the second color signaland a corresponding second reference set of color signals. In certainsuch embodiments, the first reference set of color signals may have beenmeasured from points within the interior regions of the surfaces ofseveral wafers having acceptable seed layers present, and likewise, thesecond reference set of color signals may have been measured from pointswithin the edge regions of the surfaces of several wafers havingacceptable seed layers present.

With both metrics calculated, in step 850 it is determined whether firstand second metrics are within an appropriate predetermined rangecorresponding to each—note, depending on the embodiment, it is likelythat the predetermined range corresponding to the first metric will bedifferent than the predetermined range appropriate for the secondmetric, for example, in some embodiments where a color signal ismeasured from the wafer's edge region and another color signal ismeasured from the wafer's interior region. If both metrics satisfy theirrespective criteria, it is determined in step 860 that an acceptableseed layer is present, and the method proceeds to electroplate the wafer(step 870) and so on, similarly to the method presented and describedwith respect to FIG. 7A. Otherwise, if either metric fails to fallwithin its associated predetermined range at step 850, then it isdetermined that an acceptable seed layer is not present (step 865), thewafer is designated unacceptable for electroplating (step 875), and themethod proceeds, again, similarly to the method presented and describedwith respect to FIG. 7A.

It is noted that first and second metrics may be calculated from firstand second measured color signals as described above. Thus, in someembodiments, the first metric may be indicative of the magnitude of thevector difference between the first color signal (e.g., measured from apoint within the interior region of the wafer) and a vector average ofthe first reference set of color signals (e.g., measured from pointswithin the interior regions of wafers known to have an acceptable seedlayer present)—and the first predetermined range associated with thefirst metric may be indicative of the average deviation associated withthe vector average of the first reference set of color signals.Likewise, in some embodiments, the second metric may be indicative ofthe magnitude of the vector difference between the second color signal(e.g., measured from a point within the edge region of the wafer) and avector average of the second reference set of color signals (e.g.,measured from points within the edge regions of wafers known to have anacceptable seed layer present)—and the second predetermined rangeassociated with the second metric may be indicative of the averagedeviation associated with the vector average of the second reference setof color signals.

It is also noted that using a second color signal as a diagnostic toolmay increase an electroplating method's ability to reliable determinewhether there is or isn't an acceptable seed layer present forelectroplating. Moreover, using a second color signal which is measuredfrom the edge region of the wafer being tested may allow a method ofelectroplating a set of wafers to avoid electroplating (and potentiallyruining) wafers which have already been electroplated. In someembodiments, this may be because a wafer which has already beenelectroplated will likely also have been subject to EBR (edge bevelremoval), and thus the edge region of this electroplated wafer will lackthe seed material (and electroplated material, if different), and as aresult have a different color signature than a wafer which has had anacceptable seed layer applied (e.g., via a PVD process). Thus,measurement of color in the edge region and comparison to a referenceset of signals likewise measured from the edge, may provide a usefuldiagnostic tool.

FIG. 7C schematically illustrates a class of electroplating methodswhich are similar to those presented in FIG. 7B—similar in that twoin-process color signals are employed, one measured from the interiorregion of the wafer selected for processing and one measured from theedge region of the selected wafer—but, rather than compare thesein-process color signals to corresponding reference sets as in FIG. 7B,methods 802 illustrated by FIG. 7C calculate a detection metric bycomparing the two in-process color signals with each other andthereafter evaluating this metric against a predetermined range ofacceptable values. Thus, in these sorts of embodiments, use of sets ofreference measurements may be avoided.

Thus, referring to FIG. 7C, after a wafer is selected for processing instep 820, the method measures a first set of one or more in-processcolor signals from one or more points within the interior region of thesurface of the selected wafer at step 831, and also measures, at step836, a second set of one or more in-process color signal from one ormore points within the edge region of the surface of the selected wafer.These steps may happen sequentially or serially, or they may happensomewhat contemporaneously or in parallel as is schematicallyillustrated in the figure. After the first and second sets of in-processcolor signals are measured, in step 841, a metric is calculatedindicative of the difference between the color signals in the first andsecond sets of in-process color signals, and in step 851 it isdetermined whether the metric is within an appropriate predeterminedrange. If the metric satisfies this criteria, it is determined in step860 that an acceptable seed layer is present, and the method proceeds toelectroplate the wafer (step 870) and so on, similarly to the methodspresented and described with respect to FIGS. 7A and 7B. Otherwise, ifthe metric fails to fall within the predetermined range at step 851,then it is determined that an acceptable seed layer is not present (step865), the wafer is designated unacceptable for electroplating (step875), and the method proceeds, again, similarly to the methods presentedand described above with respect to FIGS. 7A and 7B.

It is noted that in certain such embodiments, the locations of thepoints on the surfaces of the wafers at which the first and second setsof color signals are measured are a fixed set of repeated azimuthal andradial positions relative to the wafer edge and alignment notch of eachwafer. It is also noted that, in certain embodiments, the metriccalculated to gauge the difference between the first and second sets ofcolor signals may be related to, or indicative of, the magnitude of thevector difference between the vector average of the first set of one ormore in-process color signals and the vector average of the second setof one or more in-process color signals.

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates a variety of electroplating methodswhich are similar to those presented in FIGS. 7A and 7B—in particular,similar to FIG. 7B since a second in-process color signal measured fromthe edge region is employed—but that additionally provide a mechanismfor modifying the first and second reference sets of color signals.

Methods illustrated by FIG. 8 proceed similarly to those presented inFIG. 7B, but after an acceptable seed layer is determined to be presentin step 860, in addition to electroplating the wafer at step 870, themethods 803 modify the reference sets of color signals by selecting thefirst in-process color signal for inclusion as a new color signal in thefirst reference set of color signals in step 891, and selecting thesecond in-process color signal for inclusion as a new color signal inthe second reference set of color signals in step 892. Moreover, in someembodiments, along with the addition of these new color signals to thereference sets, a color signal may be removed from the first referenceset in step 893, and likewise, a color signal may be removed from thesecond reference set in step 894. In some embodiments, as indicated inthe figure, it is the oldest color signal in each reference set which isremoved. In this manner, in some embodiments, an electroplating methodmay operate by continually updating one or more reference sets of colorsignals based on the in-process color signals most recently measuredfrom wafers having acceptable seed layers present. If the vector averageof the color signals in a reference set are used as a basis of computinga comparison metric, this updating of the reference set may allow thevector average to be a running average over the last N wafers determinedto have an acceptable seed layer present, where N is then the number ofcolor signals in the reference set (in some embodiments).

Moreover, in some embodiments, the foregoing operations may constitute amethodology by which the one or more reference sets of color signals areestablished. Thus, in some embodiments where this is the case, the firstN color signals added to the reference set would not be accompanied by acorresponding removal of the oldest color signal in the reference set,since the point is to increase the size of the reference set to size N.Once it reaches size N, then the oldest color signals may be removedfrom the reference set as more are added as illustrated in FIG. 8. It isnoted that in some embodiments employing the foregoing procedure forestablishing the reference set, it would be assumed that the first fewwafers have acceptable seed layers present, since without a referenceset established, a comparison metric cannot be computed to establish theacceptability or presence of a wafer's seed layer. However, in otherembodiments, a reference set established from a previous “run” ofelectroplating a series of wafers may be used as the initial referenceset, which is then updated in the manner just described. Accordingly, amethod of electroplating a series of wafers may initialize the relevantreference sets of color signals in a variety of ways, prior to updatingthem in the manner schematically illustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 9 presents another set of methods of electroplating a set of waferswhich take advantage of the seed layer detection and thicknessdetermination methods disclosed herein. As shown in the figure, anexemplary method 900 begins by setting a minimum seed layer thickness instep 910, and selecting a wafer from the set of wafers designed forelectroplating in step 915. The method may then proceed by measuring afirst color signal at a point on the surface of the selected wafer instep 920, accessing reference color signals indicative of the color atpoint on the surfaces of several reference wafers in step 930, thereference wafers having seed layers of differing thicknesses, and instep 940, calculating the value of several metrics indicative of thedifference between the first color signal and several of the referencecolor signals. In step 945, these metrics are then analyzed to determinethe approximate thickness of the selected wafer's seed layer, and if theapproximate thickness is greater than or equal to a predeterminedminimum thickness as determined in step 950, the seed layer isdetermined to be adequate in step 965 and, in step 970, the methodproceeds with electroplating the selected wafer. If in step 950, thewafer was determined to have an approximate thickness less than thepredetermined minimum thickness, the seed layer is determined to beinadequate in step 960, and the electroplating step 970 is bypassed. Inany event, whether or not the selected wafer is electroplated, themethod proceeds to step 980 where it is determined whether there remainadditional wafers in the set of wafers to be electroplated which havenot yet been selected for analysis and possible electroplating. Ifadditional unselected wafers remain, the method proceeds back to step915 and one of these unselected wafers is selected, and the steps of themethod continue. On the other hand, if all wafers in the set of wafersdesignated for possible electroplating have been already selected, themethod ends.

System Controllers

The seed layer analysis methodologies and operations described herein,such as those operations described in reference to FIGS. 7A, 7B, 8, and9, for example, may be implemented in program instructions which mayreside on a controller of the electroplating system and/or may reside ona remote non-transitory medium which is accessible from and readable bythe controller of the electroplating system. For example, in someembodiments, color analysis logic 780 of FIGS. 6A and 6B may beintegrated directly into an electroplating system controller, either asa dedicated hardware component or as software running on a generalpurpose processor within the controller, the software loaded from anon-transitory computer readable medium within the system controller oraccessible from it. FIG. 4, for example, schematically illustrates theintegration of color analysis logic 399 into the controller 339 ofelectroplating system 307—either as dedicated hardware, or as softwarerunning on controller 339. Of course, such integration is optional anddepends on the specific details of the embodiment. As indicated above,in some embodiments, the color analysis logic may be a stand-alonecomponent, or be integrated into the color sensors internal electronicsand/or processor(s) either as hardware or as software loaded from acomputer readable medium.

Wherever the color analysis logic happens to reside, a seed layeranalysis system as described herein may be viewed, at least in certainembodiments, as a separate system which, in certain such embodiments, iscontrolled and operated by the system controller of the electroplatingsystem. Thus, the system controller of the electroplating system maycommunicate with the seed layer analysis system, receive and sendsignals to it, etc. Furthermore, the system controller may send andreceive signals from other various components, modules, subsystems, etc.of the electroplating system, and may control the same or othercomponents, modules, or subsystems by supplying control signals, etc.For instance, the system controller may control operation ofelectroplating substrate holders, robots, cleaning systems,post-electrofill modules, etc. that are part of the electroplatingsystem. In certain embodiments, the controller may synchronize theoperation of the various processing modules and the robots which movewafers between the various modules. Signals for monitoring processes maybe provided by analog and/or digital input connections of thecontroller. The signals for controlling the processes are output on theanalog and digital output connections of the controller.

The controller may typically include one or more memory devices and oneor more processors. The processor may include a central processing unit(CPU) or computer, analog and/or digital input/output connections,stepper motor controller boards, and other like components. Machinereadable program instructions for implementing appropriate controloperations are executed on the processor. The machine readableinstructions may be stored on the memory devices associated with thecontroller or they may be provided over a network.

In certain embodiments, the controller controls all or most activitiesof the electroplating systems described above including the operation ofthe seed layer analysis systems described above. The controller executessystem control software including sets of instructions for controllingthe timing of the processing steps, pressure levels, gas flow rates, andother parameters of particular operations. Other computer programs,scripts, or routines stored on memory devices associated with thecontroller may be employed in some embodiments.

Typically, there is a user interface associated with the systemcontroller. The user interface may include a display screen andgraphical software to display process conditions, results from colorsignal analysis, etc. Also included may be user input devices such aspointing devices, keyboards, touch screens, microphones, and other likecomponents.

The computer program code for controlling the above operations can bewritten in any conventional computer readable programming language: forexample, assembly language, C, C++, Pascal, Fortran or others. Compiledobject code or script is executed by the processor to perform the tasksidentified in the program.

Photolithographic Patterning

The apparatus/process described hereinabove may be used in conjunctionwith lithographic patterning tools or processes, for example, for thefabrication or manufacture of semiconductor devices, displays, LEDs,photovoltaic panels and the like. Typically, though not necessarily,such tools/processes will be used or conducted together in a commonfabrication facility. Lithographic patterning of a film typicallyincludes some or all of the following operations, each operation enabledwith a number of possible tools: (1) application of photoresist on aworkpiece, i.e., substrate, using a spin-on or spray-on tool; (2) curingof photoresist using a hot plate or furnace or UV curing tool; (3)exposing the photoresist to visible or UV or X-ray light with a toolsuch as a wafer stepper; (4) developing the resist so as to selectivelyremove resist and thereby pattern it using a tool such as a wet bench;(5) transferring the resist pattern into an underlying film or workpieceby using a dry or plasma-assisted etching tool; and (6) removing theresist using a tool such as an RF or microwave plasma resist stripper.

Other Embodiments

Although the foregoing disclosed processes, methods, systems, andapparatuses have been described in detail within the context of specificembodiments for the purpose of promoting clarity and understanding, itwill be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that there are manyalternative ways of implementing these processes, methods, systems, andapparatuses which are within the scope and spirit of this disclosure.Accordingly, the embodiments described herein are to be viewed asillustrative of the disclosed inventive concepts rather than limiting orrestrictive, and are not to be used as an impermissible basis for undulylimiting the scope of the appended Claims.

We claim:
 1. A method of determining whether a semiconductor wafer isacceptable for electroplating, the method comprising: (a) selecting awafer from the set for processing, wherein the wafer has a surface; (b)after (a), illuminating one or more points within an interior region ofthe surface of the selected wafer and measuring a first set of one ormore in-process color signals from the one or more points within theinterior region of the surface of the selected wafer, each color signalhaving one or more color components; (c) after (a), illuminating one ormore points within an edge region of the surface of the selected waferand measuring a second set of one or more in-process color signals fromthe one or more points within the edge region of the surface of theselected wafer, each color signal having one or more color components;(d) calculating a metric indicative of a difference between the colorsignals in the first and second sets of in-process color signals; (e)determining whether a seed layer acceptable for electroplating ispresent on the selected wafer surface based on whether the metric iswithin a predetermined range; and (f) repeating (a) through (e) for oneor more additional wafers from the set of wafers.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein locations of the points on the surfaces of the wafers atwhich the first and second sets of color signals are measured are afixed set of repeated azimuthal and radial positions relative to thewafer edge and alignment notch of each wafer.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein: the metric is indicative of a magnitude of a vector differencebetween: a vector average of the first set of one or more in-processcolor signals; and a vector average of the second set of one or morein-process color signals.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein: (b) furthercomprises detecting a light reflected from the interior region with acolor sensor; and (c) further comprises detecting a light reflected fromthe edge region with a color sensor.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe one or more color components of the color signals of the first andsecond sets comprise a first color component whose value is indicativeof the relative proportion of green versus red in the color signals. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more color components of thecolor signals of the first and second sets comprise a first colorcomponent whose value is indicative of the relative proportion of blueversus yellow in the color signals.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein:the illuminating in (b) further comprises illuminating the one or morepoints within the interior region of the surface of the selected waferwith substantially white light to reflect light from the interiorregion, and the illuminating in (c) further comprises illuminating theone or more points within the edge region of the surface of the selectedwafer with substantially white light to reflect light from the edgeregion.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein locations of the points on thesurfaces of the wafers at which the first and second sets of colorsignals are measured are chosen randomly.
 9. The method of claim 1,further comprising: (g) processing, before (a), each wafer by a physicalvapor deposition (PVD) tool for depositing a seed layer.
 10. The methodof claim 1, wherein the acceptable seed layer is a copper seed layer.11. The method of claim 10, wherein the acceptable seed layer is acopper seed layer having a thickness of less than about 200 angstroms.12. The method of claim 11, wherein the acceptable seed layer is acopper seed layer having a thickness of between about 50 and 150angstroms.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein: the first set of one ormore in-process color signals in (b) includes a first color signal and asecond color signal, the second set of one or more in-process colorsignals in (c) includes a third color signal and a fourth color signal,(d) further comprises calculating a first metric indicative of adifference between the first color signal and the third color signal,and calculating a second metric indicative of a difference between thesecond color signal and the fourth color signal, and (e) furthercomprises determining whether the acceptable seed layer is present onthe wafer surface based on whether the first metric is within apredetermined range and whether the second metric is within apredetermine range.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or morecolor components of the first set of one or more in-process colorsignals and the one or more color components of the second set of one ormore in-process color signals comprise a red color component.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the one or more color components of the firstset of one or more in-process color signals and the one or more colorcomponents of the second set of one or more in-process color signalscomprise a first color component and a second color component.
 16. Themethod of claim 1, wherein: (a) further comprises selecting the waferfrom one or more wafer storage devices for storing, loading, andunloading wafers, and the method further comprises: (h) positioning,after (a) and before (b), the selected wafer for illumination by theillumination source.